Houston Texans Rumors: Adding Le’Veon Bell not a luxury to take
By T.A. Mock
While adding Le’Veon Bell would make the Houston Texans offense incredibly dangerous, it is not a luxury the team should take. Let’s examine why this is the case.
The Houston Texans offense is already an incredible beast of a machine, even with a porous offensive line. Deshaun Watson is a phenomenal quarterback that can make any play with either his legs or his arm. DeAndre Hopkins is also a top three wide receiver in the league, if not the top receiver.
Behind those two are multiple ancillary pieces that help make this offense dangerous. The oft-injured Will Fuller has freaky speed that can take the top off of defenses and is a touchdown threat every time he steps on the field. Keke Coutee and Jordan Thomas are developing threats. Lamar Miller and D’Onta Foreman have their issues but they’re more than capable of breaking out.
Adding Le’Veon Bell to that mix could potentially transform the offense into one of the league’s most dangerous. Le’Veon is that kind of back. When he is on the field, he is one of the best running backs in the league that can impact every facet of the game on the offensive side of the ball.
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He’s been a first-team All-Pro guy twice and a Pro Bowler three times. His best season in the NFL might’ve come in 2014 when he put up over 2,000 total yards from scrimmage. He’s a complete back that has rushed for over 1,200 yards and gained an additional 500+ through the air in the same season on three separate occasions. On top of that, Le’Veon can also stay in on passing downs and help protect his quarterback.
Just imagine a guy like that lining up next to Watson in the Houston Texans backfield. Imagine the possibilities. Le’Veon could make up for deficiencies in what should be an improved offensive line in the run game and the passing game. He could also be a final resort outlet for Watson that has the potential to turn into big chunk plays.
Every team in the NFL would like to add Le’Veon if they could. The thing is, he held out of the entire 2018 season because he wants a long-term contract with big, guaranteed money that will make him the highest paid running back in the NFL.
Not very many teams have the cap space to do that. The New York Jets, Indianapolis Colts, Houston Texans, Oakland Raiders, and maybe the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (if they make the cuts they’re expected to) have the cap and position open for him. The Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills have the cap space but not the position.
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The Houston Texans currently have about $75 million in available cap space after the release of Demaryius Thomas. That number could balloon to potential $95 million if they cut Lamar Miller to save over $6 million with $1 million in dead cap, Kevin Johnson to save over $9 million, and maybe even Johnathan Joseph for another $5 million. That’s more than enough room to give the $9-$10 million he wants.
However, the Texans will also need to add contracts to keep Jadeveon Clowney and add pieces along the offensive line and in the secondary. Plus, the team has two years of cheap Watson and his $13 million option before they’ll have to break the bank to pay him. So, they need to improve to build the roster around this good, young, cheap quarterback but they need to be wary of adding a ton of expensive contracts.
Plus, the average salary for running backs in the NFL is under $2 million, of course, that is skewed but, some of the best running backs in the league make less than half of what Le’Veon is going to want to sign for.
The Houston Texans have too many other needs and too much money they’ll need to pay out in the future to give a running back who hasn’t played football in a year a seven-digit salary for four to five years.
Le’Veon is really, really good. And like I mentioned earlier, he could transform this offense to make it even more dangerous but the Texans shouldn’t take the luxury of adding a running back that expensive. If they really wanted to revamp the position they could add a good player in the draft for a tenth of the cost.
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What would you do if you were the Houston Texans? Would you roll the dice on Le’Veon Bell and attempt to have one of the most dangerous and explosive offenses in the NFL? Let us know below!